A singular and extraordinary work, Lang’s Pulitzer Prize-winning composition takes the tradition of the musical Passion (specifically, the Bach St. Matthew Passion), and substitutes Hans Christian Anderson’s Little Match Girl for the figure of Jesus. The girl is not divine; she will not save the world. So her story is told not by a full chorus and orchestra, but by four vocal soloists, who occasionally play small percussion. The music alternates between a recurring but ever-shifting prosody which tells her tale, and a richly-harmonized set of "crowd scenes" which provide an understated but cumulative emotional wallop. A quietly and surprisingly moving piece that you will not soon forget.